How DAF donors research nonprofits and how organizations can boost their visibility

The two largest donor-advised fund (DAF) sponsors in the United States, Fidelity Charitable and DAFGiving360 (formerly Schwab Charitable), both reported 25% year-over-year growth in grant dollars in 2024. As the use of DAFs continues to expand, nonprofits are increasingly asking: “How can we get DAF sponsors to recommend our organization to their DAF donors?” Let’s unpack that question, starting with how DAF giving works. 

How does the DAF giving process work? 

While DAF sponsors are the legal “owner” of the assets in their DAF accounts and have to approve all grants, the individuals or families who create the accounts make recommendations as to where their funds are granted. The vast majority of the time, these DAF account holders are making independent decisions; the DAF sponsor is not proactively making suggestions.  

DAF donors are motivated to donate from their fund for the same reasons anyone is motivated to give to your cause: There’s a timely opportunity to make an impact on an issue or community they care about by supporting your mission.  

How do DAF donors decide which organizations to give to?

That being said, there are a few factors that help DAF donors in making these decisions: 

1. DAF sponsors offer donors information from external databases 

DAF portals–where DAF donors make grant recommendations—often source details on organizations from other databases, such as Candid or Giving Compass. Keeping your organization’s Candid profile up to date with your mission, financials, and program information ensures that DAF donors can make grant recommendations to your nonprofit with confidence. Contributing high-value content on your organization to the Give Compass’ learning center also provides more context on your mission for their search tools to pull from. 

2. DAF sponsors often share lists of relevant nonprofits during moments of crisis 

In response to humanitarian emergencies such as hurricanes or wildfires, many organizations like the Center for Disaster Philanthropy or community foundations serving the areas affected will post “where to give” lists of nonprofits to donate to. If your cause is relevant to disaster response, try to get on those organizations’ radar. 

3. DAF account holders often work with financial or philanthropic advisors  

While DAF donors ultimately make their own decisions on grant recommendations, some do consult with an advisor. This is especially true for DAFs sponsored by community foundations, which offer more hands-on services and local expertise. Here are two ideas for how to elevate your nonprofit’s profile with financial or philanthropic advisors: 

• Apply for general funding at your local community foundation. Even if you aren’t selected for direct grants, by applying, you increase the chances the program officers will be aware of your work and can share it with DAF account holders interested in your cause area locally.  

• Collaborate with advisors on donor education. Build valuable relationships by coordinating a donor session where an advisor can provide advice to your supporters on how to manage their giving effectively. For example, the Michael J. Fox Foundation partnered with advisors to create a guide to DAFs.  

4. DAF portals make it easy to set up repeat and recurring gifts 

One key benefit of a DAF is that the portal organizes the donor’s DAF gifts in one place. It makes it easy at the end of the year for donors to look through the organizations they supported last year and see if they’ve missed any this year. This is a key factor behind why, according to Fidelity Charitable’s 2025 report, 77% of DAF grants are either scheduled recurring grants (31%) or repeat grants to causes the donor supported before (46%). If you have donors that support you regularly through their DAF accounts, let them know they can set up a recurring gift in their portal. 

How can nonprofits encourage DAF donors to give more?

DAF donors frequently still end up using a credit card for donations seen as more inspiration-based, time sensitive, or socially driven. According to a study on DAF donor behavior from Giving Compass and the Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy, 37% of respondents said they did not use their DAF for their most recent donation, citing the extra steps involved: leaving the donation page, logging into their DAF portal, looking up an organization, double-checking its EIN, answering several more questions, etc.  

Yet, we know from The DAF Fundraising Report from K2D Strategies & Chariot that when DAF donors use their DAF, they give 96% more on average. Any donor making a small gift today would make a much larger gift if they had a DAF and used it. Here are some steps nonprofits can take to increase DAF giving across their donor file: 

1. Audit your fundraising communications to ensure they include a reference to DAF giving. Here’s an example of a direct mail appeal The Public Theater sent with language on DAF giving. 

2. Educate your staff on DAFs to make sure they’re comfortable fielding questions from donors on the topic.  

3. Check if your fundraising platform includes a digital DAF giving option that automatically reminds donors to use their DAF in your donation forms.  

Today more than ever, it’s critical to remind donors to use their DAFs whenever we can—and to make it easier for them to do so wherever we can.